My father knew my mother, Julianne, his whole life and they were married rather young. I was born soon after their marriage and five years later my brother, Micah, came along. We were raised in one of the extravagant homes reserved for council members, but that doesn't mean we were spoiled. My mother made sure we had enough of whatever we needed, but never too much. My father, after being appointed to the Faction, began his studies in medicine and became our resident physician. He had a lot of responsibilities and was overworked, but we all are down here.
My parents were well liked in the community. My mother was like a ray of sunshine in our gloomy little underground world. She was always so happy and smiling, that soon you'd be smiling right along with her. She was something else. Time went on, and life was great. Everyone was happy. However, It's times like that, when you least expect something to go wrong, that it does.
My mother became ill. My dad couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, but he studied and ran test after test, determine to figure out the cause of her illness, and make her well again. Finally, he was stumped. He brought my mother into his office after their last round of vigorous tests and broke down and told her there wasn't anything he could do. Underaan just didn't have the answer. He began to tell her he had a plan to sneak her to the upper world and bring her to one of the advanced hospitals they had, in hopes they could help her. But my mother declined, she couldn't leave her family behind, or break the rules of the Faction. If she couldn't be cured here, then she would die with her family by her side. My father was irate. He couldn't believe she could just let herself waste away, or expect him to stand idly by while it happened.
"Mark, please.. This is how it has to be. We're not above the laws our parents set in place here. I don't want to leave my home, my family, any of it."
"That's enough! I can't stand to watch the woman I love die!" He yelled.
"Then watch me live. Let me spend as much time as I have left with our children, with you. Please! Mark, promise me. Promise you'll take care of them when I'm gone. Raise Micah and Jackie into gentlemen, and don't let them forget their mother." She begged.
"I.. I promise. I love you, Julie. I always have and I always will."
So time went on, but my father never gave up on his quest to cure my mother. He never gave up hope. But that meant he spent his hours at the hospital, or in his study at home, constantly searching. Micah and I never really knew how bad it was then, but we could see the subtle changes in our mother. She began spending more and more time with us. Prompting us to take up whatever hobby could hold our interests. She brought me my first guitar, and I started to teach myself how to play. She brought Micah art supplies and she began teaching him how to paint. She often spent the night listening to me trying to play her favorite songs, while goofing around with my little brother but she'd get so tired. We would bring blankets to her as she would often just fall asleep on the couch.
More time went by, and my mother's hair started falling out. She began spending the days in her bed as she was too weak to leave the room. That's about the time it finally set in for me. If dad didn't come up with a miracle very soon, we would lose her. And the only time we'd see him is when my mother's voice would drag him from his study so he could bring her to the restroom or clean up after she'd been sick. I would hear him trying not to cry as he left the room afterwards.
Finally, one cold morning, we were drawn to my mother's room by her trembling, weak voice. I stood by her bed, with my father and brother, looking down at the hollow shell of my once beautiful mother, ravaged by whatever damned disease that was winning its battle in destroying her body from the inside out.
"Sweethearts," she said with a brave smile. "It's almost time. I just wanted to see your beautiful faces,"
"Don't talk like that," My father said.
"Mark, my darling, please.. just listen, can you hear it?"
"Hear what?"
"The music," she coughed and her whole body trembled.
"Mom.." I began.
"Jackie, Keep playing. Keep playing my favorites. You're getting so much better. And Micah, Your paintings are brilliant.. My little artists. Mark, I.." Her voice faded and her eyes began to flutter.
My father shooed us from the room after that but we anxiously waited outside the door.
"Mark, I love you. I'm not scared anymore but I'm so.. so tired.." and those were my mother's last words as she fell asleep forever, while my father stood by her side.
A short time later he emerged from the room and Micah immediately burst into tears. My father gave him a hug and said a few words to soothe him. When he stood up, looked over at me and reached his hand out to my arm, I brushed him off with an angry grunt. I turned on my heel and ran into the small room I shared with Micah, collapsed on my bed and sobbed into my pillow until falling asleep. That night, I dreamt of my mother when she was young.
A few days later, when Micah was at a friend's house, my father cornered me. He jammed my arms into a jacket, then slung a backpack over my shoulders and dragged me out of the house. I soon found myself running with my father, along the corridors that only the Faction were allowed in. Eventually, we came to a door and my father turned me around to look at him. He jammed dark sunglasses on my face and cleared his throat to speak.
"Jackson, Listen very carefully to me. This is important, son. Beyond this door is the upper world. Once you go through, you'll find yourself in a warehouse. Go straight to the back wall, find the door, go through it and follow the road down to the town. I've packed some things for you, here's some cash. I'm doing this because, well.. I don't know. I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore. I just want you to see what's up there. See what life is really like, when you're not living burrowed in a god forsaken hole. If you like what you find up there more, don't think twice about staying. Forget everything you've left behind here and just live free, son. If not, leave a note under the rock by the door to the warehouse and I'll find a way to sneak you back in. But I want you to live happily and how you do it to be YOUR choice."
"Dad I can't leave you and Micah, especially not after mom just..."
"Jackson, please. I promised your mother I would raise you right, and I think this is your best chance for a good life. Take it, son." With that he gave me one shove towards the door, and began walking down the way we had just come. I took a deep breath, scared shitless, and I pushed through the door.
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